31 January. Jolly news for these snowy times - Rebellion are to release a 48-page Cor! & Buster Special on 17 April, featuring characters including Sweeney Toddler and Gums, drawn by the likes of Ned Hartley, Cavan Scott, Abigail Bulmer and Tanya Roberts. This will be followed by a reprint for Free Comic Book Day (4 May) entitled Funny Pages, featuring reprints from the archive.

29 October. Judge Dredd Megazine will include a bagged tribute to the late Carlos Ezquerra. "Carlos' death was a profound shock, not just to everyone at 2000AD but also to his fans across the world," says editor Matt Smith. "This small collection of his stories shows not just his evolution as an artist but also a sense of his incredibly consistent quality over more than four decades."

Saturday, December 26, 2009

In 1954 Wright's Biscuits Limited of South Shields released a trading card set of twenty-four cards entitled Mischief Goes To Mars. The cards consisted of colour illustrations on the front and an ongoing story on the back which told the futuristic tale of a young boy, Mischief, and his sister Marie and their trip to Mars with their rocket ship pilot uncle, Jet Wright. The colour illustrations were painted in a nursery style while the story tried its best to include factual information about space and spaceflight as it was known in the early 1950.

The cards were the size of the typical cigarette cards of the day and were therefore of a similar size to the Dan Dare cards issued with Calvert's Tooth Powder beginning in 1953 and the various cards sets the Express Weekly comic issued later in the decade such as The Wild West and the Jeff Hawke Space Gen cards. There were at least three variations of the Mischief cards however the differences were to do with the positioning of the Wright's name on the rear of the cards and there were no changes to the images or the story contained on the sets.

As well has their uncle having the surname of the biscuit firm, four of the cards had prominent advertising of Wright's Biscuits in the illustrations and the children were instructed by their uncle to eat as many of the “sustaining” biscuits as they could during the trip to Mars.

Wright's Biscuits Limited began in 1791 as L Wright & Son making hardtack ships biscuits for the ships on the nearby River Tyne. In the 1950s the firm operated a large biscuit factory in Rutland Street in South Shields using a trade mark on their packets of biscuits of the little boy known as Mischief, however by 1964 Wrights were taken over by Kemps Biscuits who in turn were taken over in 1972 by United Biscuits. In the rationalisation following this second takeover United Biscuits decided to close the South Shields factory and the resulting loss of 820 jobs was commented upon in the House of Commons on 24 November 1972 by Anthony Grant, the Under-Secretary Of State For Trade and Industry. However this did not stop the factory's closure in March 1973.

United Biscuits continue to produce biscuits and snacks to this day and own some of the best known brands in the UK including McVitie's and Jacob's.

Penguin Books honoured a handful of popular writers by publishing ten titles simultaneously in editions of 100,000. Agatha Christie was the first author so honoured, with Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Carter Dickson and Simeon following. Christie's books were reprinted within months and a second batch of ten followed in 1953, chosen by Christie herself as amongst her favourites. A number of single titles followed (and, indeed, had predated the first batch of ten). Here's a selection.

1st 10 (issued in 1948)

682 Appointment with Death683 The ABC Murders684 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd685 Lord Edgware Dies686 The Murder at the Vicarage687 The Seven Dials Mystery688 Peril at End House689 Murder on the Orient Express690 The Sittaford Mystery691 The Mystery of the Blue Train

2nd 10 (issued in 1953)

924 The Body in the Library925 Crooked House926 Death Comes as the End927 Death on the Nile928 The Labours of Hercules929 Miss Marple and the Thirteen Problems930 The Moving Finger931 The Mysterious Mr Quin932 Parker Pyne Investigates

Singletons

6 The Mysterious Affair at Styles61 The Murder on the Links1099 Murder in Mesopotamia1196 The Big Four1256 Ten Little Niggers1637 Murder in the Mews and other stories

AVAILABLE NOW!Forgotten Authors Vol.1Click here for details and payment options"This is utterly fascinating: what a terrific accomplishment! It has held and engaged me. Authors who are only names have been documented and recorded, from the pathetic to the successful, and everywhere in between. This is incredible research, and I cannot begin to thank you enough for sharing it. I’m dipping into it with absolutely enormous pleasure."—Richard Bleiler"Recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of books, book publishing, obscure authors or even researching family history. Looking forward to Volume 2"—Amazon review.

AVAILABLE NOW!The Men Behind Flying Saucer ReviewClick here for details and payment options"Beginning in 1955, the Flying Saucer Review has been key to chronicling the appearance of Unidentified Flying Objects and the latest theories of why they have been appearing in our skies. A dedicated group of enthusiasts - amongst them an accountant, a publisher's editor, a test pilot, a novelist and a member of the House of Lords - were amongst those who helped put together this remarkable magazine. Who they were and how they came to work together makes for a fascinating tale, some of it as curious as the phenomena the magazine studied."

AVAILABLE NOW!Countdown to TV ActionClick here for details and payment options."The perfect compliment to my set of Countdown/TV Action" - Graham Bleathman."A wonderful trip down memory lane. Recommended" - Paul Simpson, Sci-Fi Bulletin"If you read Countdown as a child, you'll be fascinated by this account of its making ... indispensable." - John Freeman, Down the Tubes"The definitive history of the title" - Lew Stringer, Blimey!"I urge you to grab a copy and give Steve Holland a tip of the hat for the amount of hard work, research and love he's poured into making a book of information become an interesting story" - Barnaby Eaton-Jones, The Cult Den

Lion King of Picture Story PapersClick here to order"It's a great read in itself and has sent me back to the Lion comic to re-read some of my childhood favourites. The pictures are reproduced crystal clearly and even this old man can read the original art ... It's a gorgeous book and if we are snow-bound as the media has been saying for weeks, I have plenty to keep me amused this chilly January weekend!" - Norman Boyd.

Sexton Blake Annual 1941Click here to order"If you've been meaning to give Sexton Blake's adventures a try, this would be a great place to start. I've seen the actual annuals go on Ebay for three or four hundred bucks, so this is definitely a bargain too." - Singular Points.

Peter Jackson's London Is Stranger Than FictionClick here to order"The original books have been highly collectable for many years now, but finally they’ve been republished in a single volume from Bear Alley Books ... for the ridiculously reasonable price of £14.99. Do yourself a favour. " Christopher Fowler.

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